Containing COVID-19 by Matching Messages on Social Distancing to Emergent Mindsets—The Case of North America

Nick Bellissimo, Gillie Gabay, Attila Gere, Michaela Kucab and Howard Moskowitz
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Nick Bellissimo: School of Nutrition, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B-2K3, Canada
Gillie Gabay: School of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon LeZion 91750, Israel
Attila Gere: Department of Postharvest and Sensory Evaluation, Institute of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Sciences, Szent Istvan University, H-1118 Budapest, Hungary
Michaela Kucab: School of Nutrition, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B-2K3, Canada
Howard Moskowitz: Department of Postharvest and Sensory Evaluation, Institute of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Sciences, Szent Istvan University, H-1118 Budapest, Hungary

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-10

Abstract: Public compliance with social distancing is key to containing COVID-19, yet there is a lack of knowledge on which communication ‘messages’ drive compliance. Respondents (224 Canadians and Americans) rated combinations of messages about compliance, systematically varied by an experimental design. Independent variables were perceived risk; the agent communicating the policy; specific social distancing practices; and methods to enforce compliance. Response patterns to each message suggest three mindset segments in each country reflecting how a person thinks. Two mindsets, the same in Canada and the US, were ‘tell me exactly what to do,’ and ‘pandemic onlookers.’ The third was ‘bow to authority’ in Canada, and ‘tell me how’ in the US. Each mindset showed different messages strongly driving compliance. To effectively use messaging about compliance, policy makers may assign any person or group in the population to the appropriate mindset segment by using a Personal Viewpoint Identifier that we developed.

Keywords: communication; messages; compliance; COVID-19; health policy; social distancing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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